dg comments

please empty your brain below

For those who like to see parked cars caught out by the tides, the is highly recommended.

You might find this interactive risk map interesting. You can move the map and also adjust the level of water.

John | 31.10.23 - 7:34 a.m. | #

The slipways around Richmond Bridge are a good bet to spot an expensive car half full of Old Father Thames on such days. More agreeably, one can be inadvertently or deliberately temporarily marooned inside the White Cross at Richmond or the White Swan at Twickenham; a good excuse for an extra pint (or a Becks, according to taste).

David B | 31.10.23 - 7:45 a.m. | #

Climate Change is spooky.

TW | 31.10.23 - 8:27 a.m. | #

Bosham in West Sussex seems to get a fair number of submerged cars, as the road around the harbour is below the high tide mark and some motorists don't take this into account when parking there..

Adrian | 31.10.23 - 8:27 a.m. | #

Thames Barrier due to close today at 10:40 a.m. due to high tide and assorted atmospherics. It would be interesting to pop down to Kew and have a look to see the difference between today and yesterday but this hellish cold prevents me. :-(

HoosierSands | Homepage | 31.10.23 - 8:32 a.m. | #

Over in East London, the East India Dock Basin overtopped its banks at the high tide yesterday - more than I've seen it do so before!

John | 31.10.23 - 8:36 a.m. | #

Strand on the Green looks even worse than it did last Thursday. I was surprised how quickly a little overflow half way over the path suddenly became an impassable one right over it, just about at full tide. I lunched in the City Barge, when I had finished the water had totally disappeared as if it had never been.

davews | 31.10.23 - 8:53 a.m. | #

John - The government supply a much better map and warnings here.

I'd dissuade anyone in the UK from using that ClimateCentral map because, as its Limitations state, it's only accurate for the coastal US and shouldn't be used for "inland flooding, or contributions from rainfall or rivers."
For instance, on the example you give, it doesn't take into account Teddinton Lock on flooding around the upper tidal Thames. It cannot gauge the likelihood of flood risk on the upper tidal Thames as it takes no acount of Teddington (or Richmond) locks.

martin'O'Holcombe | 31.10.23 - 8:59 a.m. | #

I always thought the new walkway under the nearby Barnes Bridge was a little too low…

ap | 31.10.23 - 9:29 a.m. | #

There are a few pretty amazing videos on Twitter showing inundation at Marble Hill House and kayaking at Twickenham.

David B | 31.10.23 - 9:29 a.m. | #

Will have missed you by just a couple of hours as I ran along the embankment yesterday. All the way round to Hammersmith bridge it was wet and a bit wild.

Jack31439 | 31.10.23 - 9:50 a.m. | #

We visited Fulham Palace yesterday and walked back to Putney Pier to find it flooded … must have just missed you!

Sara | 31.10.23 - 9:50 a.m. | #

I live in Hammersmith on the river, luckily along a bit where the flood walls are more than adequate. I can usually judge how high a tide is (and how much of the road down Chiswick Mall will be flooded) by where the water comes to on Hammersmith Bridge. Yesterday was certainly one of the highest I have ever seen.

Greg | 31.10.23 - 10:07 a.m. | #

A spring tide plus over a metre of swell due to rainfall - doesn’t happen often.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 31.10.23 - 10:19 a.m. | #

I was curious, waiting at my local bus stop in Wapping, about a rivulet of water flowing along the pavement and into the street drain. Walking a few metres "upstream" confirmed that the water was coming over the sill at the nearby river stairs.

MartinG | 31.10.23 - 10:27 a.m. | #

Most interesting.

Andrew | Homepage | 31.10.23 - 10:36 a.m. | #

I experienced this at Strand-on-the-Green in spring, 1998; until this morning just thinking it was simply Chiswisk. The hiehgt was nothing like as extreme as shown in your photos, however. On the way along, I thought I saw ITV's prime sports presenter conversing with neighbours. He died earlier this year.

cau1khead | 31.10.23 - 10:59 a.m. | #

Some years ago I dropped off my son for rowing practice at the Putney boathouses, parking the car in the area where you were and setting off on a walk. An hour or so later I got a text from him advising a swift return as the water was up to my hubcaps. Luckily it got no further.

Peter | 31.10.23 - 11:24 a.m. | #

The first sentence in the post strikes me as dubious. Not sure what "aligned" means, but spring tides happen twice every lunar month, one at full moon and once at new moon.

Malcolm of Kent | 31.10.23 - 11:38 a.m. | #

Feel free to write me a better opener.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 31.10.23 - 11:46 a.m. | #

"London is drowning and I.....live by the river!". Although Joe Strummer meant something entirely different.....its at least what I'm thinking of while reading todays post.

Steven | 31.10.23 - 2:33 p.m. | #

One can always spot the 'new' journalists in the run up to Boat Race week who park in the wrong place.

This year's race was similarly followed by a very high tide, with the water lapping right across the roadway pictured.

Jordan D | 31.10.23 - 3:04 p.m. | #

Remember the fuss surrounding the Government Warning System so we could be alerted about, for example, extreme weather etc?
Has it actually been used for Storm Babet and Cieran or has the recent flooding not been deemed severe enough?
There has been media silence about it since the test!

dg writes: very much not severe enough

Cornish Cockney | 31.10.23 - 4:21 p.m. | #

Yep that was me Friday last, having breakfast at the launch of Young's Winter Warmer [yum yum] : marooned inside the White Cross at Richmond.

tankard | 31.10.23 - 5:33 p.m. | #

I walked past Strand on the Green around the same time as you (my photos look exactly like yours). I kept going, close to Chiswick Bridge some people were putting up a makeshift defence so their storage units wouldn’t flood - they said they have been there 4 years and only seen the tide like this once. I saw the cars in Mortlake from across the river and I was glad they were not mine. It’s incredibly interesting to see and also scary to think what just a little more water could do.

Renata | 31.10.23 - 7:33 p.m. | #

Back when my now husband and I were first going out, we sat on a bench on the path by the Old Royal Naval College with the river gently lapping at our feet. Would love to work out the actual date, which I'm guessing would be reasonably doable.

PhilD | 04.11.23 - 1:46 a.m. | #

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